Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 1.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 579,542 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,607 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Hilltop Holdings were worth $13,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Group LTD increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings by 19.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Group LTD now owns 52,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 8,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings by 2.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 698,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,194,000 after buying an additional 17,020 shares during the period. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings by 4.4% in the first quarter. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 51,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in shares of Hilltop Holdings during the second quarter worth about $2,418,000. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hilltop Holdings during the second quarter worth about $27,034,000. Institutional investors own 52.93% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) traded down 1.10% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.92. The stock had a trading volume of 402,437 shares. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 0.38. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $14.28 and a one year high of $28.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.18 and a 200-day moving average of $22.43.

Hilltop Holdings (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 28th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. Hilltop Holdings had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 7.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 15th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 10th. Hilltop Holdings’s payout ratio is 17.91%.

HTH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Hilltop Holdings from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 3rd. FBR & Co boosted their price objective on Hilltop Holdings from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hilltop Holdings from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, October 31st. Finally, Compass Point cut Hilltop Holdings from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $28.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 23rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Hilltop Holdings currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.10.

In related news, insider Jerry Schaffner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $62,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 22.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Hilltop Holdings

Hilltop Holdings Inc is a financial holding Company. The Company provides business and consumer banking services from offices located throughout Texas through PlainsCapital Corporation (the Bank). It has three operating business units, which include PlainsCapital (banking and mortgage origination), Hilltop Securities Holdings LLC (Securities Holdings) and National Lloyds Corporation (NLC).